Midsommar i Sverige

This weekend it was Midsommar, so in other words, the longest day in summer, and being Sweden, they have a holiday to celebrate it. On Thursday afternoon I headed out to the summer house with my host family to spend the weekend there. It’s so incredibly beautiful out here! I love it. It’s been sunny every day and I’ve been able to chill, tan, read and occasionally get into the water, which apparently is super warm for this time of year at around 18 degrees.

On Friday morning we joined the rest of the people who have summer houses out here in a Midsommar celebration at the local school, and yes, I did join in with the dancing around the random pole, along with all of my host family. So random, but kinda fun! It’s all about celebrating summer pretty much, and it’s quite enjoyable. This was followed by some fun games, like sack races etc. And, being Sweden there was a whole lot of raffles, and we won a moonbounce, che ya. Hahahah. On Friday night we went over to some family friends, Eva with her son Micke and daughter Helena, summer house about 5 minutes away on the boat and had dinner there.

Saturday consisted of, sitting and relaxing, and not doing a heck of a lot! But was still enjoyable. Eva and Helena came over for dinner, and then we went on a little boat tour out to a small island for dessert, so random, but awesome.

Sunday was pretty much exactly the same as Saturday, but even better weather, and more reading was done.

Now, I’ve just gotten home, and I’m getting ready to head down to Malmö on Wednesday for .... EURO TOUR. I’m so excited! I’m sure it’s going to be amazing and if the weather stays like this it’s going to be even better.

Signing out for the next 3 weeks or so,

Lots of love,

Alex.  (and don't think that I've stopped taking self timer jump shots.. and yes, I will continue this throughout Europe)

Sommartider hej hej sommartider!

So schools out, summer's here (kind of), am definitely looking forward to the two months that I've got ahead of me!
On Wednesday, myself, David, Evan, Frida, Saga, Daniel and Fanny went out for dinner at one of the many many Pizza restaurants in town. Then we came back to my host family's house to watch a movie on the amazing big screen ;) (Mum and Dad, can we get one pleeeeeeeease!) Whilst looking through the dvd collection at my host family's place, we found the parent trap! Definitely was a great choice in movie I'm thinking. Hahaah.
Thursday night was Kathi's leaving dinner. She just had a small dinner at her host family's house for a few of the people from school. It was a really nice evening, very relaxed with enjoyable company (:
School wrapped up on Friday with the studenten. Graduation is so much more exciting here! On the last day, everyone arrives at school relatively dressed up, and the 3rd graders (7th formers) have these awesome graduation hats. (Which I totally want to get even though I'm not going to be graduation).
All around school the 3rd grades had whistles/horns etc, and pretty much just partied up! Whenever someone of another grade would walk past them they would shout "Var är mössorna?!" which means, where are the caps? After the final assembly, I went out for lunch at Ming Palace, was the first time I've had Chinese food since leaving NZ, oh how I've missed it!!! Then we went outside to watch the 3rd grades come past in their trucks. When they finish school, they go on a tour of town on the backs of trucks, pretty much just having a massive party! So awesome. It was a very enjoyable last day of school for the semester.

The last week has been pretty sweet. Very relaxed. I've spent a heck of a lot of time enjoying the sunshine and warmth. Also enjoying the fact that I'm finally no longer sick. One thing I've also been doing... Is watching the Soccer world  cup! Loving the fact that the All Whites are playing so amazingly! Definitely a proud kiwi even half way around the world. The best part of it all, is that I don't have to get up at ridiculous times in the morning to watch the games! They're at convenient viewing times (:

My host mum decided that on Wednesday, while we picked up my host sister from Falköping, it would be a good idea to go on a canoeing trip in the afternoon! Flippin best idea ever, I had such a great day. After a afternoon of canoeing which included a picnic lunch, and then fika later on. On the drive back home we went to a ruin that's next to the E4 just past Jonköping. It was so beautiful, with a view over the coast down towards the town Gränna and over Lake Vättern.

Me and David in the car on the way to Falköping

The view from the ruin beside the E4. 

Thursday was another visit to Norrköping for a day with the exchange students! We went to a lake in Åby which was really close to one of the exchange students houses. Was such a beautiful day and it was so nice to get to catch up with all of the exchange students again before Euro tour because I hadn't seen most of them for around 2 months.

Åby, while I was waiting for the bus back to town... Around 8:30pm, yeah the sun's still shining. 

This weekend was the Crown Princess's wedding in Stockholm! So my host family decided to take me up with them to Stockholm to be there, and to be a tourist for the weekend. The weekend mostly consisted with walking around Stockholm, and me taking a couple of hundred photos. Not to mention watching the royal wedding on TV, and then seeing the newlyweds go past in a horse drawn carriage! It was so cute, even if the whole thing was insanely overdone.

On Sunday, we visited Drottningholm, where the royal palace is. This is actually where the King and Queen live. After a morning there, we then trekked through the Gamla Stan, and then visited a photography exhibition, which was incredibly awesome.

Not only did I have the best time in Stockholm. It was followed by an amazing result by the All Whites drawing 1-1 with Italy at the world cup. And then followed by the realization that I left New Zealand 5 months ago now. It's weird, but amazing. I'm loving every minute here in Sweden at the moment, and know that I've got even more awesome times coming up, with Midsommar this weekend and then next week... EURO TOUR.. needless to say, I'm incredibly excited!

Love, Alex.

school? haha. nah, i'm an exchange student.

So the last few weeks have pretty much contained zero school, a lot of tv, and a lack of sleep. As school wraps up I seem to have to attend less and less school. It's pretty sweet really one lesson a day, maybe two. The weather's warming up, and there's been blue skies for the last week. I could FINALLY begin to work on my tan again ;) and don't worry, it's coming back slowly.
On the 28th of May I participated in the Blodomloppet, which is a charity 5km run. I did it along with my host family and David, from Australia.

Me and David enjoying the Friskis & Svettis aerobics warm up! Hahah. 

Other events from the last few days include watching the 3rd grades Studenten Ball, which is totally amazing. As a part of their graduation they take part in an amazing ball, insanely good dancing, the girls are in such gorgeous dresses, even more impressive than our ball dresses at home. Apparently they work for months on the dances. I kind of can't explain the awesomeness of it all, hahah, sorry folks. 

This Saturday the host family and I went out to a lake about half an hour from home for a canoeing afternoon and picnic dinner on a small island (: It was great! We were also joined by two Sri Lankan's who work with my host mum who were really nice. 

Then on Sunday, it was Sweden's national day. So while my host mum was out of town visiting my host sister who goes to town in Falköping, my host dad, other host sister and host brothers headed to gamla (old) Linköping, to see the celebrations. They included, a parade and some random young children singing. Haha. I didn't really understand, but it was still enjoyable all the same. Then we enjoyed a great lunch in the sun at the restaurant. Followed by a trip to Tornby, (kinda like Botany Downs, but on a much smaller scale), so that my host sister could get a laptop for her exchange!

I'm pretty much over my sickness now. Slowly making my way back to normal sleeping patterns, and doing a little bit more than watching tv all day! Haha. I went to an aerobics class tonight, was great ;) Definitely know some people at home who would love these classes as much as I do! 

I only have two classes this week and haven't had one of them yet. So have had a super relaxing two days. Which has been great. I'm definitely looking forward to summer holidays starting on Friday, and then only 3 weeks until Euro tour! I seriously can't wait.. 

Over and out,

Alex.

PS, I also think I'm slowly becoming a little bit more Swedish, and the language is coming along a little bit. Lots of work to do though! 

xx

Oh yeah, another point. Sweden is ridiculously close to the North pole, so the sun stays up for ages! It's kinda annoying when trying to sleep but great when you're out at night (:

This was taken at 10:30pm!